AMSTERDAM (AP)—Marco Van Basten resigned as coach of Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday after the club failed to qualify for next season’s European Champions League.
The 1992 FIFA Player of the Year became coach of the club last July, after he quit as coach of the Netherlands following the European Championship.
The 1992 FIFA Player of the Year became coach of the club last July, after he quit as coach of the Netherlands following the European Championship.
“What I bring to Ajax is not enough,” Van Basten said. “Ajax deserves better than what I have achieved this year. My qualities are not enough to make the difference next year with this group.”
Ajax, third in the Dutch Eredivisie at 20-8-5 behind AZ Alkmaar and Twente with one game left, said assistant coach John van ‘t Schip will take over until the end of the season.
Van Basten made his decision after Ajax was stunned 4-0 last Sunday by Sparta Rotterdam, a result ensured Ajax can’t finish second.
“How in God’s name is it possible that we cannot defeat Sparta when we have to?” he said after that match. “I had much faith in a good result, but again the team seemed scared. We did not succeed in getting the team ready. That is very annoying and surprising.”
Ajax has won 29 league titles since its first in 1918. The club reached its peak in the early 1970s when it won three consecutive European Champions Cups and the 1972 world club championship. It again won the European and world club championships in 1995.
Van Basten scored 128 goals for Ajax from 1982-1987 before moving to AC Milan. He coached the Ajax youth squad for two years before becoming the national coach in 2004.
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